Shift, Strike, Retreat
by Evilprozac79
Summary: An introspective into the lives of the teens of the Tendo home. One shot.


Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi-sama and not to me.

"Shift, Strike, Retreat"

By Evilprozac79

**Shift...**

She moved into position, making sure it was just as she'd practiced hundreds of times now.

**Strike...**

And there... following through in a habit she could do flawlessly in her sleep.

**Retreat...**

Backing away, ready to begin the cycle once more.

Akane looked up from her practice dummy at Ranma, watching him and waiting for him to make some sort of typical remark. Oddly, he just sat there, watching her, not saying anything for once.

"Well??" She finally demanded heatedly. She'd caught him, his eyes moving over her. Were it anyone else, she'd have throttled them by now for being a hentai. Since it was him, she wanted the attention, though she buried that admission in a cloud of anger.

"What?! I was umm... just thinking that the dummy can't take too much more of your gorilla like punches!" Ranma answered, though in truth he had been watching her instead, feeling like more of a dummy for his reckless words than the wooden construct in front of her was.

"What did you say?!?!?! RAAAAANNNNMMMMAAAA!!!!" Finally, she moved to chase him as he tried to run away, waving mallet-sama around, ready to smite him properly and send him flying, courtesy of Akane Airlines.

They loved each other so much, but were so scared. They fought endlessly, yelling things like "Uncute!" and "Baka!" when really they wanted to whisper things like "Beautiful..." and "Beloved..." Their pride held them back, so that they continued the cycle, one more day.

**Shift... Strike... Retreat...**

"Another fight?" Nabiki mused out loud, hearing the sounds of violence coming from outside. Moving, she grabbed her camera before sliding into a practiced position, waiting for them to come into view and checking her film. Perhaps she could sell the pictures to Kuno, if Ranma got wet. If Ranma stayed dry, she could probably sell them to Ryouga to fuel the fires of his vengeance.

It wasn't that she really needed the money. Photography was something she'd started doing as an outlet when her mother had died. Freezing people in pictures meant that she'd never forget about them. It had gone well, until she'd been looking out her window and into the house next door, catching pictures of her neighbor with someone that wasn't his wife. When he offered her ten thousand yen for the pictures, she learned a new lesson that day.

"Everything has a price."

And she liked the feeling of power that the camera gave to the little five year old girl over the forty year old man. The sense of being lost in her mother's absence was replaced by the feeling this could be something she could control.

Ranma and Akane came running around the corner now, same as always. Her finger pressed against the button on her camera, causing it to capture the picture, matching countless others that she'd had of them. Always the same, more pictures, more blackmail, more schemes.

Popping the roll of film out of the camera, she hums to herself happily. The Ice Queen of Nerima was ready to take the pictures to get developed where they would join others, waiting to be filed, shown to the right parties, and sold for the right price.

**Shift... Strike... Retreat...**

Humming softly to herself, Kasumi moved the vegetable into place before she lifted her knife. Through the kitchen window, she could see Ranma dodging about as Akane swung her mallet at him. A sad look crossed her face as a wistful sigh slipped from her lips. She was jealous. The "quiet, stay in the background, 'Oh my'" Kasumi was jealous of Ranma and Akane.

It wasn't that she wanted Ranma to herself. He'd always been nice and respectful to her, but always in a way she imagined a brother to be. Cute yes, but still too young for her. No, Kasumi was jealous for a different and broader reason.

She was bored and lonely.

As she slid the knife through the vegetable, she allowed her mind to wander, wondering what it would be like to have adventures of her own, with someone she loved dearly, and who loved her in return. She'd never let him go, and she prayed daily that her sister realized what a treasure she had.

Unfortunately, Kasumi's place was here, taking care of her family. Someone needed to do so. They needed her, so she did her duty as Tendo family matriarch to take care of her family. That Duty had kept her going, all these years, and she would continue, giving up any selfish desires of her own, until they needed her no longer, and only then would she allow herself to think about what she wanted to do.

Dumping the vegetables into the pan, she washed off the cutting board, readying it for the next thing to be cut.

**Shift... Strike... Retreat...**

AN: I don't know where the idea for this came from. I'm sleep deprived and it sprang pretty much whole into my mind. I hope you like and enjoy my interpretation of things. I also hope that I didn't come off heavy handedly with this. If it seems that way, I blame the sleep deprivation.


End file.
